Relive the N64 glory days and play this browser-based Super Mario 64 re-creation.

A computer science student named Erik Roystan Ross has recreated the first level, Bob-Omb Battlefield of the popular game Super Mario 64 in HD, using the Unity Engine and has released it for free to everyone. And the game’s first level — that lush green hillside with bright gold coins, giant rolling cannonballs and a tense boss battle providing a taste of the epic, princess-saving journey ahead — has now been recreated in HD and can be played in your browser. However, every new generation I would usually purchase a console and enjoy the early titles, but the lack of credible games and a shift towards massive single-player or online play I think has hugely dented the industry. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve replayed the original version of this level; even if I had an exact count, I’d probably be embarrassed to say.

He had to sacrifice larger features like the chain-chomp and the final battle with the Big Bob-omb, but other than it’s a pretty accurate rendition. Ross worked to make it a fairly faithful re-creation, but he left out “some really minor stuff that nobody cared about like red coins or the Wing Cap or the Big Bob-omb,” and replaced them with “crowd pleasers like giant springs and coin blocks.” The game works with several game controllers, Ross says, such as those for the Xbox One and Xbox 360, as well as Sony’s DualShock 3 and 4 controllers. I have purchased a Wii U and it has been over the course of the last month I have realised that I’m logging significant time on Mario Kart 8, Super Smash Bros., and playing through Super Mario 3D World. The report added that, Ross made all the art and animations for the game, except for the ones for Mario, the Goomba and Power Star, which he borrowed from Super Mario Galaxy. It may not the same as holding that three-pronged N64 controller in your hands, but you can play it online using a downloadable plugin called the Unity web player.

The project is not affiliated in any way with the game’s parent company Nintendo, but it does provide a glimpse of what the cross-platform forays that the video game giant recently announced it would attempt might look like. Those times and achievements are logged online against players to create the high score table we all wanted in the original R-Type, Mario Kart, or Super Street Fighter.

Nintendo, which already warned its annual operating profit would halve on weak console sales, said it was teaming up with online gaming firm DeNA Co Ltd to develop and operate gaming apps. The massive Chain Chomp that downright terrified me as a kid as gone; there are no red coins to be found; there is no Big Bob-omb waiting to battle at the top of the hill.

Playing through Resident Evil 4 was amazing, as were all the Zelda games and GTA, but even these examples have a more bite-size element and a must-achieve-more element. Hardware and software manufacturers need to look to the past without simply recreating classics, but to lace modern games with a ‘just one more go’ approach rather than a cinematic semi-experience such as The Order: 1886.